Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 13, 8:17 AM ET

NRG max pain

Spot (delayed)$113
Max pain · Fri, Oct 30$108-4.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.05±14.2% by Fri, Oct 30
Put/Call OI0.274 puts / 15 calls
Call wall$112largest call OI
Put wall$108largest put OI
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $112

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Sep 18$120+6.2%5d
Fri, Sep 25$119+5.3%12d
Fri, Oct 2$115+1.8%19d
Fri, Oct 9$115+1.8%26d
Fri, Oct 16$110-2.7%33d
Fri, Oct 23$116+2.7%40d
Fri, Oct 30$108-4.4%47d
Fri, Dec 18$120+6.2%96d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot108108110113115118120$1M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 108 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot1081081121201313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NRG open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 30.

Open-interest change — building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration — the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot10810811212055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spotflip 112108112120+$3K$3K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Oct 30

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.67-0.071080.01840.15-0.07-0.34
0.59-0.081120.01970.16-0.08-0.42
0.43-0.081200.01970.16-0.08-0.58

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot651081181281451956K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot409012015018025032K32K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 136K call contracts, 45K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: NRG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk